ST. AGNES HIGH SCHOOL & Jr. COLLEGE - Byculla: Students' Orientation

ST. AGNES HIGH SCHOOL & Jr. COLLEGE - BYCULLA: STUDENTS' ORIENTATION

August 4- 5, 2014

Over two day and four sessions, AVEC animated over 800 students from STD VIII - XIII, for St. Agnes High School and Jr. College. the theme for the Value orientation program was "My Life: A Valued Journey". Sr. Louisa, Principal of the School and Jr. College introduced the two guest speakers. In-spite of their examinations, the students participated in the entire session whole heartedly.  The heavy rains too did not dampen their spirits.

 The sessions began with a prayer song that set a spiritual tone to the entire program. A meditation, animated by Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes, enabled the students to calm down and to relax. He invited them to exhale all that was negative and toxic and to inhale everything that was wholesome and good. He also introduced Fr. Glenn and the many activities done by AVEC.

 Fr. Glenn's session focused on the need and importance to 'choose the higher value'. Society cheats us many times by presenting 'lesser values' as attractive and important. "Until and unless you are guided by a value Compass, you will fall into the trap of choosing the lesser value", he said. With the use of powerful clips from YouTube, like 'Two plus Two equals Five', the 'Little acts of Kindness' and the TOI Advertisement 'Mumbai for Women' were powerful starters to set their minds thinking differently.

The students of STD IX, X and Jr. College took the time to focus on their present 'Now moment' and to listen attentively to their inner voice, the 'Spiral of Life' exercise enabled them to revisit their past - an exercise that really helped them connect with important moments in their life, and finally the 'Wheel of Life' exercise enabled them to reorganize their future. 'Identifying their problems in life' was the final aspect that was talked about. The entire exercise was an eye opener and a real soul searching moment for many. the numerous examples and personal testimonies of Fr. Glenn also inspired the students. On behalf of Std X, school head girl, Annalize Dias proposed the vote of thanks. Ms. Suma proposed the same for the students of Std IX.

The students of STD VIII reflected on 'Diamond Values for the Journey'. The use of many video clips and a well presented Power Point presentation challenged them too. The life stories of Malala Yousafzai and Immacule Ilibagiza were inspiring true life stories that challenged the students to choose the higher values in life. "You have one life to live, live it along the Valued path", he advised them.  

A number of students came forward to write their comments in the AVEC log book:
"Thank you so much for an inspiring and interesting talk and for spending time with us" - Uzma Patni VIII -A
"Thank you Fr for your inspiring talk and we are sure that it will really help us in our future" - Kaizeene Modi VIII D
"Thank you for your precious time with us" -  Archie Rathod VIII D
"Your words were very enhancing and thank you for your blessings. Lots of love" -  Shraddha Menon VIII C
"There are some people in the world who get a chance to express their thoughts and many who don't get a chance. What should they do? What about them" -  Janvi Kankaria VIII D

"Thank you Fr. Glenn, you taught us so much about how to gain victory in our personal life and be successful and thank you for letting us about all our wrong things we do in our life and for giving a solution. Thank you" -  Gracia Jeyarajan VIII D

"Thank you Fr for giving us your inspiring words and I hope these talks have a good effect on our lives" -  Maseera Merchant VIII B

"This session will really lead us to a very bright future. Thank you Fr so much" -  Aleriya Namid VIII A

"Thank you Fr. Glenn for your inspiring words and for a valuable talk which will help us to be successful in our life" -  Zaiba Patel VIII C

 "Fr. Glenn your words of wisdom were really very helpful and thank you for letting the 'winner attitude' in us to rise up" -  Aamena Baniyan VIII C

"I am very thankful to you Fr/. Glenn for guiding me. I hope I will always maintain a 'winners' attitude and not cry our of failure. Thank you" -  Ms. Siddhi Samir Bhor VIII C

"Thank you Fr. for helping us. Hope we have a winner's attitude" -  Asma Jetpurwala XII Com
"Fr. we are very grateful to you as us have given us good values. We are sure we will inculcate these values in life. Thank you" -  Lorna Bernard D'Souza XII Com

"Thank you Fr. Glenn for giving us your precious lime and we hope it will guide us. Thank you" -  Farzana Jariwala - XII Com
"Sorry to my valued life! I'll try to give my life wheel a better shape" -  Mewawala Nida XI Com

"Thank you very much as I got my solutions from your thoughts and quotes" -  Mahenoor Khan XI Com
"Thank you so much for your kind advises and I hope it will affect my way of living. And, I am disturbed" - Aleena Sayed XI Com

"It was truly wonderful and inspiring for all of us. Thank you Fr. Glenn and we will try to do our best in life and follow the moral values you have imbibed in us" -  Pranchi Jain X D

"A very inspiring session and precious time has helped us alot to know what we are lacking. We will try to cope up with all the things were are lacking behind. A big thank you to Mr. Fernandes and Fr. Glenn for all their contribution for making our life from better to best!" -  Tanisha Chouhan X A

"It was really nice and we got to learn many things in this session. I would always apply these values and morals in our lives. Thank you very much" -  Saaraa Kazi X B

"Your inspiring session was very beautiful and I hope I will try and learn something from this motivating session. Your inspiring words touched everybody's heart. Thank you"  Hushi Jain X B

"Thank you very much for your speech. It was very motivating and useful" -  Heeba Shaikh IX A
"Thanks a lot Fr. Glenn. It was a great time. We all are motivated by your speech. Hoping that you come back" -  Saheba Merchant IX A

"It was a really motivational talk. It helps us realize to choose the correct path in life. Thanks" -  Sanaya Metha IX B
""You all were too great and you made us realize our weakness and gave us tips to overcome them" -  Chelsea Edwinraaj  IX B

"It was an amazing experience. If a person is depressed and wants to live again, they should write it on the sand and not carve it on the heart" -   Michelle D'Souza IX C

"Thank you for coming. It was a very good experience. Your talk motivated us a lot and helped me to know myself. I hope you come again to our school for such talks and with new initiatives" - Bhaigavi Bele IX C

"Thank you for innovating our ideas about ourselves and helping us know more about our self in a personal way. I am really inspired us and hope that we meet you again really soon, so that we can get more knowledge" -  Benisha Fernandes IX D

"Thank you so much. really inspiring, awesome and an amazing talk. Hakuna Matata" -  Aisha Sayed IX
"Thank you Fr. Glenn for such an inspiring talk and for enlightening our minds for a brighter future" -  Numa IX A

God bless you all and keep you always along the Valued path in life.